Asleep
by Fate Vione
Summary: This could basically be the 'bad ending' to forsaken Shadows (not the ending I intend on, just something I was inspired t write by the song of the same title by Emily Browning) T for character death.


He didn't know what called him here. Perhaps it was stubbornness, telling him that it was entirely his city to protect. He would never admit to the silent truce that had some how turned up all those months ago. Maybe it was the lack of sightings. The unofficial watcher of the sector had been gone for far too long. In all reality Bloodwings appearances had become less frequent since Jasons death. The once second in command of the duo had become reclusive. Her missions were few and far less clean than they'd been when the older was there to guide her. The times Oracle had reported her her moves were sloppy, careless, even if she did stay farther from the spotlight than Jason ever did.

It had been nearly a week without a sighting of the once hero though. Oracle had not reported seeing her leaping across the rooftops. Police had not responded to any of her rounded up thugs or altercations between her or ANY of Gothams notorious villains. If any asked he would claim it was the knowing that the sector had been abandoned and not the cold fear that tore at his hardened heart that drove him to the area. He would not even admit it to himself.

Not even when he looked down the side of the tall building to see the grimy, stained boot lifelessly sticking from the piled rubbish in the gap of the buildings.

~o~

Sing me to sleep  
Sing me to sleep  
I'm tired and I  
I want to go to bed

~o~

It was a well hidden spot, clear of view from the street and well disguised. She was limply propped against some trash, curled into herself, fingers laying limply against her right side, dried blood caked between her unmoving fingers. The suit was torn, burned and soaked through with blood and rain from the days previous. Even through the thick boot he could see the twist of her ankle, clearly broken if not shattered from the fall she must have taken into the alley before dragging herself to the corner. Her mask was ripped, peeling and barely capable of its intended purpose anymore after being exposed to the elements unattended for so long. Her face was pale, sunken and mottled with bruises of varying battles and cuts crusted over with scabs and dirt. Her lips hung open limply, the barest hints of breath still rasping past them.

Though he tried to be gentle, the slightest touch to her battered body brought an unconscious groan from the young womans lips. His hands shook as he pulled her up into his chest, calling to the cave even as he called for the car.

"Alfred, prep the med bay."

~o~

Sing me to sleep  
Sing me to sleep  
And then leave me alone  
Don't try to wake me in the morning  
'Cause I will be gone

~o~

It was so much worse than he could have ever imagined and far beyond anything he or Alfred could handle. Broken bones could be set, bullets dug out and stitches stitched but what lay underneath the deceiving suit was so much more.

It had clearly been over a day or more that she lay among the trash but the wounds that littered her body were far older. The deep slash to her right was fresh, angry and inflamed with the iritation of the elements and early onset of infection but the many more stabs, slashes, burns and even bullet holes that littered her thin body were far worse. The stitching, for those that were even tended that far, was poor and hastily done. The green, brown and yellow scabs building at the edges and those so clearly infected as to be oozing from under her skin was enough to churn his stomach

So here he sat, some distance from the med bay where Dr. Leslie Thompkins was examining his daughter who had not yet opened her eyes through her fevered state. He watched intently as each needle pricked her skin and every bag that was attached to the IVs running into her veins that stood out too clearly against her near transparent skin. His fingers squeezed, tightening against each other where he had them pressed to his lips, fighting to keep from hovering over the doctor as she worked. Tims pacing next to him did nothing to calm him. He kept a stern eye on the boy every time he made to move forward towards her and each time he would look back, feeling his mentors eyes on him and he would slump in on himself and pull back.

"Bruce!"

It was shouted before Dick even reached the bottom step of the cave, his police uniform disheveled and eyes wide as he ran his way over to his adopted father. "Where is she?" He gasped out, winded as though he had run without stop from his civilian job all the way to the cave at Alfreds call. When Bruce signaled with his eyes in the direction of the working doctor he made to take off only to be pulled back by a large hand on his own wrist. He turned to stare back at Bruce, feeling the tremble in that had that anyone else would have missed but seeing no other difference in his image. He stepped back to stand by the man, waiting anxiously.

~o~

Don't feel bad for me  
I want you to know  
Deep in the cell of my heart  
I will feel so glad to go

~o~

When Leslie finally began to head towards the family it was Tim who noticed first, quickly approaching her with a fierce but calm and determined look. "Can we see her?" He asked, and to his credit, managed to keep his voice level. By the time he'd made it to the cave Bruce had already examined her and called for Leslie, refusing to let Tim near her. He received a small, though sad quirk of her lips.

"She needs rest. If you do not disturb her you can stay at her side." The old woman responded, clearly warning Tim to look and not touch.

With nary a pause to acknowledge her Tim was off to her bed side. She looked up to see the two remaining men staring intently at her and knew immediately they saw straight through her by their narrowed eyes and thinly pressed lips as they waited for her information. Under their gaze, she felt every bit of age, stretched, worn and beaten by all she'd seen.

"Leslie.." Bruce spoke, far too softly for the usual gruff demeanor she was used to.

"Her wounds are grievously infected. There's not telling how long some of them have been festering. She's dehydrated and I don't think shes eaten for over a week. She was so malnourished and the lack of care..."

"What are you saying?" Dick asked sternly.

"The infection is spread through her whole body. Most of her organs have already begun to fail. I have her on antibiotics but.." Her stomach fell out, she felt hollowed out inside looking into the falling face of the boys she'd watched Bruce raise and The hard features that steeled Bruces own. She saw the defeat in his eyes, the loss of what little life he still held after all he'd lost. "I have her on pain killers and something to bring down her fever. I will make her as comfortable as possible-"

"That's it?!" Dick exclaimed. "That's it?! You're telling us there's no hope that-!"

"Thank you, Leslie.." Was all Bruce could mutter as he moved past her. The doctor swallowed thickly, moving forward when Dick fell into the now vacant seat Bruce had been sitting in, placing a hand on his shoulder as he muttered to himself, arguing against all the world of the situation, denying it until finally the sob broke his lips and he slumped forward on himself, hiding his face in his palms.

~o~

Sing me to sleep  
Sing me to sleep  
I don't want to wake up  
On my own anymore

~o~

It was two days later, under heavy medication that her eyes fluttered open for the first time, tired, glazed and obviously delirious to all her surroundings. After only a moment or two she made to move, her arms moving in a jerking motion at the harsh commands of her brain that her body just did not ant to follow. The motion, which nearly pulled the IV from her arm drew Bruces attention from where he kept vigil at her bed side. He place a hand on her wrist, pinning it to the bed. Her head turned too quickly to face him, her eyes showing how it made her head swim even through the panic that rose in her eyes which only eased when she focused on him. He placed his hand on her forehead, warm and slick to the touch with fever, brushing back her bangs. "It's okay." He whispered gently. "You're in the cave. It's safe." From behind her oxygen mask he could see the smirk tug at her lips that didn't match the knowingly sad glint in her eyes. Her panic diminished and her struggles stopped but she only looked to him for a few minutes more in silence before slipping back to sleep

As the fluids and nutrients they fed into her IV took more hold on her through the days, even as most of her body was shutting down, it allowed her the strength to wake, to squeeze back at Tims hand when he visited or tug pitifully away when Dick tried to ruffle her hair.

But the most painful is when she speaks for the first time to Bruce, voice gone raspy and hoarse with the long absence of use.

~o~

Sing to me  
Sing to me  
I don't want to wake up  
On my own anymore

~o~

From the moment she first woke in the cave she knew it. That full body ache, the churning of her stomach through the meds. She knew it, cause she never should have opened her eyes again. It came as a surprise she still drew breath. But there, in his eyes.. to have let it slip so easily.

She swore she could feel it, bit by bit as her nerves died. Far too often she would wake to find herself attached to another machine or some monitor. She would wake dripping sweat but cold enough that her teeth chattered. She knew it was coming and she hadn't the will to fight it.

As the days went on she would wake periodically. Always to Bruce, sometimes Dick, others Tim. Dick and Tim would always tell her how much better she looked, Dick would tell her how he was going to kick her around the cave for his fright once she was up. She knew better than to listen.

But with Bruce, it was always just silence as he sat by the bed, always watching, always waiting, always praying in silence.

"I forgive you.." She rasped one day when the two were alone, tugging the mask away. It was draining but it was lifting to get it out. Time was short and if not now..

Bruce moved forward in shock before shushing her. "You should rest." He said softly.

"I forgive you for the lies." She wheezed out, coughing as her throat scratched uncomfortably, trying to swallow though even her mouth was dry. "I do not want to go to my grave with this.."

"Who says you're dying?"

Ah, now that sounded more like him, gruff, guarded.. bluffing. Oh dear Bruce. She gave him a mischievous smile, one he knew immediately as the same she would give him when she could manipulate him, when she got her way. It was all there in that smile and Bruce felt frozen to the bone as it dawned on him. She had wanted to die.

With or without Jason She'd have known enough to deal with her wounds. Her carelessness, the risks she took when she would patrol. She wanted to die but pride would not allow her the easy way out. No. She had to die the way they all knew would come some day. She had to go out fighting, just as Jason had.

~o~

Don't feel bad for me  
I want you to know  
Deep in the cell of my heart  
I really want to go

~o~

"Do you think I'll see him?" Her voice was low though not as raspy. When she could she would make conversation with the man she'd once called 'father', keeping her voice a bit clearer than the first time. She would attempt to bring something up, something worth remembering. The first perp she took out. He would chime in but in her mind she could see his expression. When he grinned at her standing triumphantly over the man easily twice her size. But a silence had filled the last few minutes and it left her to think. Her head didn't turn so much as fall to the side to see his questioning eyes. "Jason." She answered so low now that she could barely be heard of the beeping of the machines. "Do you think I'll see him again?"

Bruce fell silent, though she though she saw a twitch in his eyes and something that caught the lighting.

"There's probably a special place in hell reserved for all of us." She chuckled, wincing at the pain it caused. "I'd be surprised if he hasn't already taken over. He'd never settled for anything less." There was a breathy laugh on her lips as she smiled for a few short moments. It slowly dipped and her hand squeezed at Bruces.

"We really were trying. We tried to help the best we could Bruce. If it counts for anything.. we had the same dream.." It was getting harder to keep her eyes open now.

"I know you did."

"I'm tired.." She murmured, lids fluttering to stay open.

Bruce stood. He didn't need to look to the monitors to see her failing vitals or to know it was time. She'd held on for long enough. Fate had seen fit to allow him to see his daughter one last time, even given them time to make amends. It was something he'd feared he never get. He could plead for her to stay, barter to any known or unknown forces to keep her and he knew there was nothing he would deny in exchange for her life but he knew it to be useless. So he sat at the edge of the bed, gathering the teen girl into his arms, cradling her head to his chest. "Sleep then. I'll be here when you wake."

Bruce could not look down when she murmured something into his chest. He could not move when he felt a deep breath of a sigh fall against him and then the steady, continuous beep of the machine. Just the tears flowed.

~o~

There is another world  
There is a better world  
Well, there must be  
Well, there must be

~o~


End file.
